Yesterday was the third Sunday of Advent. The theme of the liturgy was "joy." In some churches, rose vestments were worn and rose candles were lit, as expressions of joy.

Quest for happiness

We human beings yearn for happiness. St. Thomas Aquinas pointed out that the perfect fulfillment of men is the source of true happiness. This perfect fulfillment cannot be found in riches, beauty, power, or fame. Human beings are fulfilled by the infinite good, God Himself.

St. Thomas pointed out that ultimate subjective happiness is the state of fulfillment and satisfaction in a person who has obtained the end for which he is made. Ultimate objective happiness is the reality which, when possessed, will render the person subjectively happy. God is our objective happiness, and our ultimate subjective happiness consists in possessing God in the beatific vision.

Foretaste of heaven

In the present life we can attain a degree of happiness, but not perfect happiness. Only God possessed in the beatific vision can make us perfectly happy. Here on earth, the more we love God, the happier we are.

The saints are the happiest people, and the secret of true happiness is the Commandments of God, which can be summed up by love of God and love of neighbour for God's sake. Joy is not a virtue, but the fruit of the virtue of charity.

In 1989 Father Timothy Dolan (now Archbishop of New York) ministered in Washington, D.C. Sometimes he assisted at a hospice for dying AIDS patients conducted by Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity.

One Holy Saturday a patient who used to be very violent and hateful asked for the sacrament of baptism. Father Dolan asked the patient to explain to him why he desired to enter the Church.

The man said, "I know nothing about Christianity or the Catholic Church. In fact, I have hated religion all my life. All I do know is that for three months I have been here dying. These sisters are always happy! When I curse them, they look at me with compassion in their eyes. Even when they clean up my vomit, bathe my sores, and change my diapers, they are smiling; when they spoon-feed me, there is a radiance in their eyes.

"All I know is that they have joy and I don't. When I ask them in desperation why they are so happy, all they answer is 'Jesus.' I want this Jesus. Baptize me and give me this Jesus! Give me joy!"

The man was baptized, and died on Easter Sunday.

I would like to share with you some sayings of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta regarding joy and its sharing:

"Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls."

"A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love."

"Joy is very infectious; therefore, be always full of joy."

"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier."

"Let us make one point, that we meet each other with a smile, when it is difficult to smile. Smile at each other, make time for each other in your family."

"Keep the joy of loving God in your heart and share this joy with all you meet, especially your family. Be holy - let us pray."

"Like Jesus we belong to the world living not for ourselves but for others. The joy of the Lord is our strength."

Friday, December 3, 2010

Advent is the season of hope and expectation. Hope is a supernatural virtue by which we expect, with a firm confidence, because of God's fidelity to His promises, life everlasting and the means of attaining it.

Hence, the principle object of hope is eternal happiness, and the secondary object of hope is the means of attaining eternal happiness. Glory and grace are the objects of hope.

In God we trust

The mercy of God is the reason for our hope. We obtain both pardon and grace through the mercy of God. Pardon for sins removes the obstacles to our union with God, whereas grace brings about that union.

Hope is founded on the mercy of God, and this mercy has no limit. Hence, St. Thomas teaches us that "man can never love God as much as He should be loved; neither can he believe and hope in Him as much as he ought." The measure of hope is to hope without measure.

St. Therese said, "We can never have too much confidence in the good God Who is so powerful and so merciful. We obtain from Him as much as we hope for." St. John of the Cross wrote, "The more the soul hopes, the more it attains."

Jesus Himself told St. Faustina, "The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is <0x2013> trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive."

Prayer and desire

St. Augustine defines prayer as an exercise of desire. God knows all our needs before we pray to Him, but He wants us to ask Him, so that by exercising hope in prayer our heart will be more ready to accept His gifts. St. Augustine explained why God does not always answer our prayers immediately: "By delaying, God strengthens our desire; through desire He enlarges our soul, and by expanding it He increases its capacity."

Formal prayers, especially liturgical prayers, help us to form our desire. The texts of these prayers teach us what are the things we ought to hope for.

Suffering and trials

In this earthly life, suffering is unavoidable. The greater the suffering, the greater hope we need to help us through. Pope Benedict in his encyclical letter on hope (Spe Salvi) pointed out that in our many different sufferings and trials we always need the lesser and greater hopes.

In our lesser trials, lesser hopes like a kind visit or a favourable resolution may be sufficient. But in truly great trials, we need the certitude of the true, great hope of eternal life. The martyrs are shining examples of facing great sufferings and trials with such hope.

In times of sufferings and trials, it is important to remember the words of St. Paul: "God is faithful and will not permit you to be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also give you a way out that you may be able to bear it" (1 Cor. 10:13).

Sins against hope

The sins against hope are despair and presumption. Despair is the refusal to trust that God will give necessary help for one's salvation. Presumption is the false hope of achieving salvation by one's own efforts without God's help, or by God's help without one's own efforts.

The remedies for despair are: meditation on the divine goodness of God, confidence in Our Lord Who died for us upon the cross, and devotion to Our Lady.

Presumption is caused by pride and a lack of fear of God. The remedies for presumption are humility, and meditation on the justice and judgments of God.

Let us wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

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Our Lady of the Clergy, Pray for Us!

O Priest! thou art not thyself, because thou art God; thou art not of thyself, because thou art the servant and minister of Christ; thou art not thine own, because thou art the spouse of the Church; thou art not for thyself, because thou art the mediator between God and man; thou art not from thyself, because thou art nothing. What then art thou, O Priest? Nothing and everything. O Priest! take care lest what was said to Christ on the Cross be said to thee: He saved others, himself he cannot save. -St. Norbert